Marijuana grow house found in Markleeville, 3 men arrested

Three Markleeville men are accused of growing marijuana at a barn in Alpine County.

“The barn contained two downstairs grow rooms. One room was complete with lights, timers, humidity monitors, fans, a carbon dioxide enrichment system and filtered external ventilation. There was even air conditioning installed and operating in the one grow room that was finished,” Alpine County sheriff’s deputies said in a press release of the Markleeville grow house. “The other room was nearly finished with all of the equipment new and in boxes, ready to be installed. The upstairs of the barn had younger plants growing with three tubs converted to producing hydroponic starter clones. A smaller grow was found in one of the rooms of the residence.”

John Borchard, 23, Stephen Seiller, 25, and Justin Jones, 35, were all taken into custody Oct. 13 on a variety of drug charges.

Deputies said of the house on Spring Canyon Drive in Markleeville that it was one of the most “sophisticated marijuana grows ever found in Alpine County.”

Deputies seized 312 marijuana plants, along with miscellaneous drug paraphernalia and thousands of dollars of growing equipment.

 — Lake Tahoe News staff report